


Une Monde Sans Toi

by citrine11



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Break Up Talk, F/F, F/M, Gen, Ulrich and Yumi basically break up, and then talk about Ulrich's obvious crush on Odd, bi Ulrich, bi Yumi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrine11/pseuds/citrine11
Summary: Yumi and Ulrich have a long-overdue talk about their relationship...which transitions into an unexpected discussion of bisexuality, home, and purpose. By which of course I mean Yumi forces Ulrich into a) making decisions and b) laughing.
Relationships: Odd Della Robbia/Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama/Ulrich Stern
Kudos: 7





	Une Monde Sans Toi

The door clicked shut gracefully behind her and she turned, glossy black hair swishing in a perfect arc. 

“We need to talk, Ulrich,” Yumi said softly. 

He trained his eyes on her boots. Tall indigo platforms, new but exactly her style. She’d always been so sure of her style. She’d always been so sure. 

Hadn’t she?

Jeremie was smart. Aelita was curious. Odd was flashy. Yumi was sure. And Ulrich…

“Ulrich.” 

She was sitting on the bed beside him now, the thin mattress on the plain frame he’d dragged in from the alley. He looked up at her face. 

“I know.” He paused. Waited. 

That was what he did now. He waited. 

For things to settle into normalcy. For another purpose, or another trigger, another flash of brilliance to latch onto. For school to end. To begin. 

Yumi folded her hands in her lap as she spoke. Fidgeted. Had she always done that? He wasn’t sure now. 

“I know I should have talked it through with you earlier. I’m sure you’ve already heard plenty from the others…”

He bit the bullet, too, sometimes. “You’re leaving.” 

She let out a long, slow breath. “I’m leaving.” 

Ulrich tried to arrange his face into something that wouldn’t look...betrayed. He wasn’t really. He also wasn’t surprised. 

“When?”

“Next week.” 

“Wow.” 

“So, you know...this...whatever this is. I don’t think it’s working. I...we’re so ingrained in all these patterns. All these stupid things.” 

He stiffened. “They made us who we are.” 

“I don’t mean Lyoko, I don’t mean...I mean _us._ ” 

Oh. That “us.” His shoulders relaxed. He snorted and bit back a sour grin. “I suppose you want to see what else is out there.”

She smiled, a little sadly. “I suppose I do.” 

She picked at a loose black thread on her sweater. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Oh, you know me.” He gestured grandly at the sparse apartment. “Living with Odd. Suppose we’ll stay here. We’ll make do. We always…”

“You always do.”

She made to get up, and he took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he needed to ask next. She sat. 

“Yumi, why...I mean, why do you think…” He trailed off, unable to find the words. 

She stared at her feet for a bit longer than was strictly comfortable. 

“—I think I like girls,” she blurted out. 

Ulrich startled, feeling the heat spread across his face. “ _What?_ I mean, I was trying to ask why you thought you and Jeremie feel the need to jet off across the earth― I mean, of course I understand why Aelita would― and Odd and I are still just here, I mean...what?” 

Yumi’s face was stock-still but her blush wasn’t fading. “Oh. _Oh_ , of course, I mean...I don’t know, we all...we went through so much. I guess we just deal with it differently. You know we’ll always be family, right?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “ _Of course_ I know that, Yumi. I’m just playing armchair psychologist here like a stoic weirdo.” He paused. “Well, I mean, me too, I guess.” 

“You…” at this she started laughing, “you like girls? Gee, Ulrich, I never would have known. You know, being one, and all.”

He buried his head in his sweatshirt. “Ugh! No. That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

She shoved him playfully. “Of course I do, you _stoic weirdo_.” 

“So...hold on. How did you...ugh, you never liked Sissy, did you?”

Yumi rolled her eyes. “Ulrich, please. You know I’m not one for all that fuss. You, on the other hand…”

“I what?

She poked at him. 

“ _What?_ ” 

“Do you have anyone in mind, Mr. Oblivious?”

He fell back against the bed and traced a crack on the ceiling with his eyes. “Please. I’m close to four-ish people on this earth, and I couldn’t...I can’t...I mean, shit, you saw me with William.” He cleared his throat. “Not that that, uh, situation, went well for anyone.” 

Yumi laughed. “You really can be dense for someone so cool, you know that?”

She was starting to piss him off. Just slightly. “What? What are you talking about?” he demanded. His voice cracked into a giggle against his will. Damn, her laughter was infectious. 

“Odd.”

“What about him?”

“You two are awfully close.”

“So? He’s...he’s Odd.”

“So, you just told me left unattended you’d probably just spend the rest of your life with the boy.” 

Ulrich tried not to think about what she was saying. Ulrich tried _so much_ not to think about this, here, exactly, what she was saying. 

“Odd’s into everyone.” 

She raised her eyebrows. “And everyone’s into you! A perfect match.” 

He turned towards her and buried his face into the blanket, groaning. 

“Not again, Yumi. I love...I love you all too much. I can’t lose that.” 

She nodded sagely. “I really don’t think you’d be risking that, you fool.”

“Why would you curse me with thinking about this?

“Just trying to make sure you don’t aloof yourself into loneliness, my dude.” 

“Ugh. It might be helping. Stop it." 

She grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. “Never.” 


End file.
